Aston Villa are taking on Everton today as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard go head to head in the Premier League.
Both mangers are desperate for a win to kickstart their season after suffering defeats on the opening weekend. Villa were beaten 2-0 at newly promoted Bournemouth while Everton slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Lampard’s former side Chelsea.
Everton lost Ben Godfrey to a serious injury in that game but have since signed Wolves centre-back Conor Coady on loan to add options to their back line, as well as promising Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana.
Villa manager Gerrard has meanwhile praised his new signing Boubacar Kamara. “We have been really impressed with him, we followed the boy for quite some time before deciding to execute the transfer,” Gerrard said this week. “He’s settled extremely quickly, he was one of the few players who performed really well last week.”
Here is everything you need to know.
When is Aston Villa vs Everton?
The Premier League match kicks off at 12.30pm BST on Saturday 13 August.
What is the team news?
Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are available for Villa but Kortney Hause remains sidelined. Leon Bailey looks “sharp” in training, according to Steven Gerrard, and is “in a good place”.
Everton are without defenders Ben Godfrey, ruled out for three months with a fractured leg, and Yerry Mina. New signings Conor Coady and Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana are set to be involved, with Coady in line to go straight into the starting XI given Lampard’s defensive injuries.
Confirmed line-ups
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Carlos, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, J Ramsey, Coutinho, Watkins, Ings
Everton XI: Pickford, Patterson, Holgate, Tarkowski, Coady, Mykolenko, Doucoure, Iwobi, Gray, Gordon, McNeil
Odds
Aston Villa 5/6
Draw 11/4
Everton 4/1
Prediction
A hard game to predict. Both teams will want to come out fighting after such a poor start, but Villa’s superior quality in attacking areas combined with the backing of the home crowd should see through to a hard-fought win. Aston Villa 2-0 Everton.
